My Demigod Story- A Story of my Life as the Daughter of a God
by FanOfBearsZombiesAndAvengers
Summary: This is the story of me, Carly Torres, as my friends and I travel to take back our school from the monsters that plague it. Betrayal, depression, mystery, angst, anger, drama, this has got it all! Even a little humor if you squint. Guest appearances by Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Chiron, and even the Stoll Brothers. The rest are OCs. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

My Demigod Story- A Story of My Life as a Daughter of a God:

Prologue:

Before you read this, let me just say one thing. This may seem like fun to read about, but in real life, if you think it's really easy to slay a Hydra every now and again, you better put this story down and walk away. My name is Carly Elizabeth Torres. This is the story about me and my two friends, Rachel Averitt, and Michael Boatright. I'm diagnosed with ADHD, ADD, and dyslexia, common for many half-bloods. Don't know what a half-blood is? Just read a chapter or two. You'll figure it out.

Chapter 1:

My first hour class passes by slowly, like a snail creeping through molasses. The time passes by, and when the bell rings, the first 50 minutes seemed like a lifetime.

I said hi to Rachel as we passed by classes, so I got a little conversation happening.

Second hour was just like first hour, except because it was Art, it was sort of enjoyable. But it's not like I had talent or anything.

Third and fourth hour pass by the quickest, and soon it's lunchtime. I walk over to sit next to Rachel. She is kind of quiet, but she is a BEAST on the basketball court. I sat next to her, and I started up a conversation.

"Did you notice the teachers acting weird?" I asked her jokingly. "Just like a Percy Jackson book."

She looked up at me with a serious look on her face. "What if we are in a Percy Jackson book? After all, we are both diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD. The teachers seem like monsters, especially our math teacher."

"I agree with you on that one. Some of the teachers are so mean and creepy." I replied hesitantly. Her blonde-brown hair was long and straight, a distinct contradiction to my brown curly mane. "I feel like Rick Riordan is writing another book, and we're the stars."

Once lunch was over, Rachel and I walked into History thinking about the conversation we had at lunch. It seemed so crazy… but so logical.

After school, I walked out of math with a disgusted look on my face. But finally the last bell had rung, and we could escape the pit adults called school. I was organizing my locker, trying to get all my homework so I could remember it all tonight.

But then I looked over and saw a new teacher, one I had never seen before, walking, almost jogging, towards me. He looked like a teacher, acted like a teacher, spoke like a teacher, but he still had that creepy feeling that he could hurt you and he would, like he was watching you.

I stuffed all the stuff I could into my backpack, and I basically ran down the stairs. Of course, tripping over the last step, I land on my right arm, causing a burst of pain. That was obviously going to leave a one big, nasty mark.

Walking to my mom's car, I felt a good sense of relief. I always feel this way when I am finally, out of school. Even the building gave me the creeps. Every single day I got the creeps just driving into this parking lot. And I swear, every day as we drive by the last window looking over the parking lot, I can't shake the feeling that the teacher I saw upstairs was still watching me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I hear the rain patter on my window in the car on Monday morning, feeling the dread of returning to school after the relaxing weekend. Watching the rain pour made me feel even sadder. I felt my mother stop the car outside the drop off point. The butterflies rise in my stomach until I feel like puking.

"Ok sweetie, it's time to go to school," I hear my mom try to say comfortingly. I know she's trying to help me, but school was still horrible. But then I saw Rachel coming out of her car, and I ran out of the car.

"Bye Mom, love you!" I tell her loudly. I slam the door and I run inside, trying to avoid the rain. I walk inside right behind Rachel, and I shake my shaggy hair to rid it of the water. I start talking to her about the subs that we are having in basically in every class. "You know how we've been getting all these creepy subs? Like you know how we haven't seen Mrs. Troutman or Mrs. Pewthers for a while? All of the teachers have disappeared, you know?"

"Yeah?" she replied. I could tell that her excitement was growing rapidly.

"Well, I think, that they're monsters." I replied quietly. She sighed loudly, obviously thinking I was messing with her. "What? I'm serious! All of the subs are creepy and weird and scary! Well, if we really are demigods, then it's pretty obvious that monsters would show up. And think about it. These subs come with no warning, they are here for a long amount of time, and whenever they do something creepy, no one notices except me, you, and…" An expression of realization crosses my face.

"What? What's wrong?" Rachel asks as we ascend the stairs slowly.

"I just realized. We're not the only ones who realize when the substitutes do something weird. Whenever the history sub started glaring at me, I looked across the room at me, but I noticed someone else staring at me."

"WHO?!" Rachel basically screamed.

"Michael Boatright."

I walked into first hour alone, and I noticed Michael Boatright sitting at his table in Science next to Noah Samuel. I was sitting next to Sommer Franks and Sam Kelly. Our science substitute, Mr. Portenga, walked into class with a mean expression on his face. I instantly felt scared, angry, irritated, intimidated… you name it. Mr. Portenga was an aging man with salt and pepper hair and he always wore a trench coat. You couldn't say creepy without saying Mr. Portenga. He started talking about nucleotides, and I turned to see Michael staring at me.

I mouthed quickly, "I need to talk to you after class," then turning around, hoping he got the message, I tried to pay attention. But the next time Mr. Portenga turned around, I saw a face that wasn't his. It was all leathery and gross, like a hawk mixed with a bat. It seemed like an hour before he turned around; in reality, about half a second. I spun around to Michael, and by the widened eyes and gaping mouth, I think he saw the thing too. I couldn't wait to tell Rachel.

I walked out of Science with a weird look on my face. I could tell by Michael's look when he saw me.

"What's up that look?" he said, laughing. I looked over at Rachel and I beckoned her over with a wave of my hand. She came over with a quick shuffle and I glanced at Michael.

"Michael and I saw something in Science, something weird with Mr. Portenga. His face morphed and it looked…" I lowered my voice so only Michael and Rachel could hear me, "like a monster."

Michael nodded, and I glanced at the clock above our heads. I wanted to say more, but we had limited time to talk. "How about we meet up at lunch?" I said quickly. I glanced up again and it said about one minute until the bell rang.

Michael and Rachel nodded. I gave Michael a fist bump with an explosion, and I gave Rachel a little look. Who knew what we were getting ourselves into?

It was finally lunchtime, and I walked to Rachel and I's usual table. I noticed Rachel and Michael already sitting there, but they weren't even looking at each other, let alone talking. I walked over to the table with my lunch in hand. When I sat down, I tried to get a conversation out of them.

"Rachel, did you see anything in Mr. Portenga's class?" I asked her quietly. I didn't want to draw attention by yelling questions like that. You know, common sense.

"Actually, I think I noticed someone else in my class. She noticed Mr. Portenga's half second morph. It was Sarah Brown," she responded, slowly dropping her voice continually until it was barely a whisper.

"Ok, well after lunch, Rachel and I are going to History, and then you," I said looking at Michael, "are going to English. What are the subs in those classes?"

"Well," Michael responded, "in English its Mrs. Smith, and in History its Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones didn't morph, but with you, Rachel, _and_ Sarah, It might provoke him. If he really is a monster."

"And guys, we don't really know about these subs really being monsters, I mean, they could just be creepy teachers. We know there is such thing." I said with a little smile on my face. "It could be our overactive imaginations."

"No way! It's way too obvious it's not! We saw a morph with our own eyes! And what if there are more of us in the class, no, the school? We have to keep investigating," Michael said quickly, and a little too loudly.

People started staring at our table, trying to see what Michael was yelling about. I quickly gave them a confused look, a look that said, "What the heck are you staring at?" I glared at Michael. "Keep your voice down," I murmured. "We don't want people to start becoming suspicious." I could've said more, but just then the bell rang. "OK, people we know the plan?"

"Yep, check out the teachers, see if there are any others, and then figure out what is going on," Rachel responded.

"Good. See you guys in Bible class," I dismissed them. We had a mission, and we were going to complete this mission. We needed to know that we weren't going crazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Walking into Bible, I felt nauseous. The sight that I saw in History made me feel sick, obviously, and by the sight of Rachel and Sarah's face, it was pretty clear that they saw it too. Mr. Jones had morphed into a disgusting creature, too sick to describe. Michael was lucky he didn't see it. I even told him so in the few minutes before we had to sit down.

"Wait, what?" he said. "Mr. Jones, might be a monster too?" He was incredulous.

"Yeah, Mr. Jones _IS _a monster. It's pretty obvious. But you know, there is one major piece of the puzzle still missing," Rachel responded.

"What?" Michael was anticipating something close to impossible. It seems like that was our school life so far.

"We still haven't found the school satyr, or we might not even have one." I whispered to Rachel. I wanted to say more, but then the bell rang, and we all flooded to our seats.

Our Bible substitute, Mr. Rutherford, was the worst of all. He was rude, annoying, creepy, loud, mean, cruel, and pretty much every other horrible quality imaginable. It was kind of weird for a Bible teacher. I mean, considering, you know, that he's supposed to teach us how to act like God and stuff.

I sat down in my seat next to Maddie Armstrong and Mallory Willis, and I looked across the room at Rachel and Michael. They caught my eye and they nodded. They knew what to do. They knew to look for the monster inside Mr. Rutherford.

I looked back at Mr. Rutherford, but I noticed something. He was always wearing jeans, he had a weird laugh, and he ate basically anything someone brought him. He always wore a baseball cap on his curly brown hair, and he had a slight limp.

A sudden realization hit me. I glanced at Mr. Rutherford's legs, and when he walked, I saw white fur barely peek out from the bottom of his messy jeans. I widened my eyes, and I gasped.

Mr. Rutherford turned around from writing on the board, and he glared at me. "What is it, Ms. Torres?" he basically spat.

"Uh, nothing, Mr. Rutherford, just amazed at the story that the Bible teaches us," I stammered quickly.

"Uh huh," he replied. "If I hear one more disruption, you can admire the story that it teaches at lunch, in detention." He turned around back to the whiteboard.

Rachel, Michael, and Sarah turned towards me. I guess Rachel had filled Sarah in earlier before class. I mouthed quickly, "Stay here after class." They all nodded and for the next forty minutes, I was preparing how to confront our substitute teacher.

When the bell rang, everyone else gathered up their stuff and they left to go to the last hour of the day. Rachel, Michael, Sarah and I didn't. We just stayed afterwards and we walked up to Mr. Rutherford's desk.

When we stood in front of his desk, he barely looked up. "What?" he said unkindly.

"Who are you really? Why are all these…" I lowered my voice, "monsters here? Why are you here? Are you a satyr? And are we," I motioned to my friends, "demigods?"

Mr. Rutherford looked up at us. "You four can see through the Mist?" he asked warily.

"Yes," I said sarcastically. "If we couldn't would we be asking you these questions?" I was not in the mood for funny business.

My Bible substitute looked over us suspiciously. "Listen, you four. Meet me in here after school and I'll explain everything. But you need to get out now. Go to your next hour," he commanded. And that was the end of our conversation with the school satyr.

When all four of us walked into Pre-Algebra, I knew what we all were thinking. And I said it out loud.

"What the heck happened to our school?" I asked my friends. "This whole week our school had gotten weirder and weirder until it's basically a myth swamp!"

"Are we hallucinating?" Rachel asked. "Is this a dream?"

"So four completely different people are having the _exact _same dream at the _exact _same time? It doesn't seem very likely, not even possible actually," Sarah replied.

"She's right. I think this whole thing, I hate to say it, but I think it's all real. I think this whole thing means, that we're demigods. The question just is though, who's our godly parent?" Michael said logically.

"Oh well. You know what will take our minds off of it though?" I asked.

"What?" they all asked.

"50 minutes of boring Pre-Algebra."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

After Pre-Algebra _finally_ ended, we all walked into the Bible classroom, ready for an explanation from the school satyr.

He was sitting at his desk, watching us walk in and sit down at the front two tables. I glared at him, not expecting any funny business, and if he gave me any, I was ready to smack the horns off of his head.

"Listen, I knew you four were demigods, but you might not know this, but there are even more. There are a ton of high school students, a few more middle school, but no elementary as far as I could tell," he started, "so I'm going to call a meeting for all of the demigods, and we're going to figure out a way to get out of here. Got it?"

"Yeah! We got it! Just explain how all these demigods ended up at the same school!" I basically screamed.

"Well, obviously the gods were involved somewhat. And the monsters let off the Mist so strongly that the parents didn't even notice. Most parents of demigods can't see through the Mist, although some can. Sometimes the parents of demigods don't even know that they have had a demigod. Sometimes they're just oblivious. But the monsters become teachers and lawyers and doctors and people that you normally would trust, and they drag the parents in until they have an all you can eat buffet, and the main course is demigod," he said nonchalantly.

"So they lure all of us here so they can eat us?" Michael asked.

"Correct. They lure all of the demigods here so they can have food, and I'm here to lead you to Camp Half-Blood so you won't become food." Rutherford said.

"So our lives are basically a fairytale? We are living a fairy tale," I heard Sarah say to herself. Rachel was shaking her head in disbelief, and Michael was just staring in astonishment.

"Well, we better get that list of demigods. If we want to corral all of the demigods in this school, then we better start," I said to him. I tried to keep my face calm and level, but on the inside I was screaming. So what we were up against monsters which were starving for demigod blood, _and_ we had to take everyone to _New York?_

"I couldn't agree more. So here we go. You guys haven't found all the seventh graders so we'll start with them. 1. Tori Averitt 2. Kenlee Cooper…" And the list went on and on.

As I listen to this huge list of the demigods in this school alone, my heart just drops. How are we going to get all these demigods out of the school and all the way to New York? The list just keeps growing longer and longer and longer.

There are six from seventh, nine, NINE, from eighth, six from ninth grade, eight from tenth, four from eleventh, and two from twelfth. That's about… thirty-five demigods in one place. That's like sending up a roadside flare in the middle of a flatland. It's bound to get some attention.

"So we have to get all these demigods from here to New York? When do we have to leave?" Rachel asked. I guess it's better to have a deadline to reach.

"About two weeks to gather everyone up, but we can't leave later than that. If we do, we're going to start losing these demigods," Rutherford said. "And it's good, because next week is Spring break, and I bet I could get some meetings with all of these demigods. But you guys got to help me on this."

"Don't worry. We're going to help you. We can't let anyone get lost. We are going to get all of these demigods to Camp Half-Blood," I said standing up.

And we did.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

By the end of the first week we had got everyone but the seniors. And I could respect that, I mean college plans and such. But I'm sure your college plans will go down the toilet when you get eaten by a Fury. Just saying.

Mr. Rutherford got a meeting together with all the demigods on every day on the week before Spring Break. We managed to go over our game plan about how we were going to escape.

I watched the demigods gather, and I saw the seniors finally come in. I stood up at the front of Mr. Rutherford's room, and I pointed to the whiteboard.

"Ok," I began, "we are going to travel to New York on Friday, to Camp Half-Blood. But before that we need to practice our tactics for the way there. Mr. Rutherford has already contacted Percy and his gang via Iris message, and they are going to meet us halfway. Then we will travel together until we get there, hopefully not losing anybody. Do we understand?"

One of the eighth graders raised his hand. I pointed to him and he started speaking, "How are we going to protect ourselves along the way? Because I'm sure that we will meet monsters. And how are we going to leave for perhaps forever without the principals noticing?"

"Good question, and for that we have Rachel and Sarah. You guys?" I directed them to come up here and lead us in the ways of combat.

"So we have a _ton_ of Celestial bronze weapons but first I need to know," Rachel told the massive group. "Is there anyone here skilled in archery or swordsmanship?" Not a soul raised their hand. "Ok, now I know what I'm working with. Now we are going to divide up. I need all the guys over there near the door, and I need all the girls near the teacher's desk. Then Michael will divide you up even further, to see our archers, spear wielders, and our swordfighters. All the archers will come with Sarah and I, the spear wielders will be with Michael, and the swordfighters will be with Carly. And as for the problem of the principals... well, let's just say that monsters on the road aren't the first monsters you've encountered."

It was quite funny to watch the eighth grader's eyes widen. I let out a chuckle as Rachel grinned, and her loud voice commanded, "Now, SPLIT UP!"

We all divided and for the next two hours we taught everyone how to fight. And I have to say, you could basically tell the children of Apollo and Ares. The Apollo kids were obvious because as soon as they picked up a bow and arrow, they could shoot with perfect aim.

The Ares kids were monsters with the spears and swords. They would destroy the dummies and attack them with such ferocity that it made us stand back and just watch.

I was pretty good with a spear, but I preferred a sword above anything. Michael was best at spear wielding, Sarah could use a dagger, and Rachel was the best out of everyone at using a bow and arrow, so she was obviously a daughter of Apollo.

By Thursday, we had a group of thirty-five amateur spear wielders, sword fighters, and archers. We were prepared to drive all the way to New York in the bus that Rutherford had "borrowed", and we had the necessary supplies: food, water, blankets, pillows, nectar, and ambrosia. We were prepared to escape at night, after everyone had left the building. We were planning to escape at around midnight, so we were sure that no one was there.

At around 11:30, the four of us- me, Rachel, Michael, and Sarah- scoped out the school. There was no one, not a sight, not a sound. I picked the lock and we got in. Michael had gotten the alarm passcode, so we successfully broke in.

We had stashed our weapons in a closet upstairs, so we let in all the demigods through a side door, and we ascended the staircase. I gave everyone their weapon of choice, and as we left, I glanced at the door we were leaving in. Rachel, Michael, and Sarah gathered around me. We all realized what opening this door meant. It meant we were leaving everything: school, family, and church, all going to be gone once we open the door.

I pushed the door open, and I motioned them out. "Come on," I said quietly. "We have a few demigods to lead to Camp Half-Blood."

And not looking back, we made our way to the bus.

After driving for a couple hours, we were approaching West Siloam Springs. I whispered to Rutherford, "Get us to the next gas station."

He pulled over about thirty minutes later at a Shell gas station. I pulled down the speakerphone and said, "Ok demigods, we are here for one restroom break, and we have to hurry, because we don't want to attract any more monsters than we are going to." I opened the door. "Let's go guys!"

They all flooded out, and when everyone stepped down my group of four watched them all hurry into the Shell.

First, we heard the screams. Then, we heard the clank of metal. Then, we heard the bark of a hellhound as he launched at one of the other demigods, Kenlee, I think.

All four of us ran in, me with my sword drawn, Rachel with her arrow nocked in her quiver, Michael with his spear pointed, and Sarah with her hand on the hilt of her dagger, ready to attack.

I charged the hellhound and noticed that there were about twenty of them, all lined up. I put on my brakes and I nearly tripped over myself. All of the hellhounds snarled at me, almost in unison. I spun my sword in my hand, and Rachel, Michael, and Sarah came up behind me all ready to fight.

I yelled, "ATTACK!" and we all surged forward charging the hellhounds.

I sliced through a hellhound's leg, and I saw Michael pierce the stomach of another. Hannah Averitt stabbed through the eye of one, and Rachel finished that one off.

I felt the time around me slow down as I jabbed my sword through one of the last Underworld dogs, and when I withdrew my sword, time sped up again and I almost tripped over myself.

Sarah was staring at me, her dagger still held in the attack position. "You ok? You've been standing there for about a min- Carls, you're bleeding!"

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. It was just a couple seconds. I had just killed the last hellhound. And then…

"What do you mean?" I said warily. I had barely glanced at the crimson color on my shirt before it all went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

I woke up some time later in the bus with a major pain in my left side. My hand reached over and I felt blood, warm and wet, soaking my t-shirt. My vision fuzzed up, and when it cleared I saw Rutherford hanging over me. He had a canteen of nectar in his hand, ready to pour over the bloody area.

When he dribbled the nectar, I sat up straight when the pain hit me, moaning. Rachel jumped back right next to me, apparently surprised by my sudden reaction. I looked around, rubbing my eyes, trying to clear up my vision.

I looked down and saw a long cut down my side, and I gasped. "How the heck did that happen?" I asked, astonished.

"You got cut by one of the hellhounds. When you stabbed the last one, one of the others got out of my reach and slid a claw down your side. Tori managed to kill it with her dagger, but not before you blacked out," Michael said to me.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Rachel asked inquisitively.

"That would be a yes," I replied, still feeling the pain. I stood up and placed a hand on my side, even though the cut was no longer bleeding because of the nectar, the pain was still resonating inside of me, and I was trembling from head to toe. The cut had left a pretty nasty scar.

Sarah gave me an ambrosia square, courtesy of Rutherford, and I chewed it slowly while the pain diminished. I drew my sword Admeta, which means "untamed" in Greek, and polished it while the fire in my side slowly died.

All of the other demigods were asleep in the back, so it was cramped and cluttered with bags and bodies spread all over. But I sat on a seat, still wincing every so often, still worried about our trip. We had traveled through Arkansas and Tennessee in about three days, and we approaching the border of Virginia and West Virginia where Percy and Annabeth were meeting us.

I jumped as I noticed Rachel sit up, her eyes wide with fear, not realizing where she was. We were all like that the last couple days, all waking up not knowing where we were. We weren't waking up on our beds at home- we were waking up surrounded by thirty other kids in a bus that smelled like sweat and blood.

I leaned over next to her, whispering in her ear, "Can you take the next watch? I'm about to collapse." In this bus, a watch was basically waking up everyone when the next monster came near us, and telling us hourly updates on the location.

She nodded slowly and sat down in the seat next to mine, cleaning her arrows and observing the road. I lay down next to Sarah on the ground, curling up on a sleeping bag. The softness of the sleeping bag made me close my eyes and fall asleep immediately.

_My eyes open to see an eagle swooping down to meet me at the edge of a cliff. I try to run from it but it overtakes me, swirling around me. But it's stopped by a dark figure in a blue hooded cloak, which catches the eagle and shoos it away. As the figure comes closer, an ominous feeling fills me, bringing fear into my body. I try to move my legs to run, but my feet are glued to the ground like they're stuck in cement. RUN! My thoughts tell me. FLEE! SAVE YOURSELF! But then the figure grabs my arm and is about to remove the hood, but it stops and whispers, _

"_I am the betrayer, and you will know who I am shortly, but not now." The voice sounds eerily familiar. "NOW, WAKE!" _

My eyes shoot open, and I'm being shaken by Tori. "Wake up, dear one," she said with the old happiness in her voice. "We're about 5 minutes away from the border, and Percy Iris messaged. They're already there."

"Ok," I replied, stretching. "Is everyone else up?" I asked quietly.

"Nope, it's just me, you Rachel, Michael, Kenlee, and Sarah."

I jumped up from the floor and stepped over some sleeping teens, and I made my way to the front of the bus right as Rutherford parks on the right side of a narrow road, apparently in the middle of nowhere. But as I step out, I barely see a sign in the distance, announcing civilization. "EVERYONE, WAKE UP! WE ARE AT THE DESTINATION! WE HAVE TO WAKE UP!" I yelled in the intercom.

Everyone who was awake went up and down the bus waking up the others, and I stepped out into the early morning air, stretching my tired legs. I could barely see two matching orange t-shirts coming closer and closer towards us, so I whistled to Rachel, and we walked towards them, her hands on her quiver, and mine on Admeta. And as the t-shirts got closer, I could barely make out the black and blonde hair of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase.

We meet up in the middle of a huge field next to the road we parked at. We just stand across from each other, observing.

Annabeth was tall and had blonde wavy hair that looked like it rarely got brushed. Her gray eyes stormed with anticipation and curiosity, and immediately I mentally compared them to Tori's. She had her signature New York Yankees hat in her hand, and her dagger in its hilt.

Percy had black wavy hair that fell over his face, and green eyes which flooded with the power of the water. He was spinning a ball point pen in his fingers, which I assumed was Riptide, and he was wearing a watch, which I thought was the one made by Tyson so many years ago.

Percy reaches out his hand to me, and I take it. "I'm Percy. This is-"

"Annabeth," she says cutting in. "We got your Iris messages. So, how many of you guys?"

"Thirty-five, thirty-four, and I'm Carly," I replied, which I hoped sounded confident and not quaking with excitement.

"I'm Rachel, daughter of Apollo," she murmured, and both of the heroes raised their eyebrows.

"How do you know? Surely you guys haven't been claimed yet?" Annabeth said, looking astonished.

"Wait until you see her shoot, then you'll see why we made that guess," I laughed. I noticed a tree over farther down the field, about 50 yards off. I had a folded up piece of paper in my jean pocket, and I had an idea. "Here, Rachel, I'm going to stand about halfway down to the tree, and I want you to pin the piece of paper that I drop to the tree." I ran down the 25 yards and held the piece of paper in the air. "ARE YOU READY?!" I yelled.

"DROP IT!" I heard the reply.

I threw it up in the air, and all of a sudden an arrow whizzed past me, snagged the piece of paper, and slammed right into the tree. "IT"S A PERFECT HIT!" I screamed.

When I ran back, I see Percy nodding, his eyes wide with amazement. "I think that she's a daughter of Apollo."

"Well, I'm not the only one who's good with weaponry. Carly here was a master with the sword from when she first picked it up," Rachel said, laughing.

"Oh really? Well, I'm pretty good with a sword myself. Why don't we have a little face off real quick?" Percy challenged.

I nodded an ok, and drawing out Admenta, I stood in a beginner's attack stance. Percy uncapped Riptide, and we began.

I aim a quick jab at his leg, and when he deflected that, I sliced my sword, getting it caught on his shirt. My instincts went into override. I jabbed, blocked, slashed, and ducked. What seemed like three hours was only about thirty minutes, but that was still a long time to hold myself against Percy Jackson. I made a quick feint, but then Percy disarmed me with a quick move. And guess what that meant?

I lost.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Percy, Annabeth, Rachel and I walked to the bus, and when we got here, about every person on that bus started crowding around them. After all, they were both basically celebrities. Who wouldn't want to fight monsters beside them?

"Ok, team, in T-minus 1 minute we will get driving through West Virginia! So sit in a seat and Rachel and Sarah will pass out snacks and drinks. We got to hit the road if we want to escape monsters that might be on our tail!" I spoke into the intercom. "Let's GO!"

Rutherford stepped on the gas, and we pulled onto the road, passing the border. I helped Sarah and Rachel pass out snacks and ambrosia for anyone who had any untouched wounds.

"Hey," Michael said, and a dark feeling crept into the pit of my stomach, "some of the eighth graders fell back asleep. Want me to wake them up?" he asked for affirmation.

I gasped, and my vision went blurry. I shook my head to clear it. "Um, no," I replied. "I'm sure they're tired. Just let them sleep." I walked to the front of the bus and the new information made me shiver. Michael's voice sounded just like that figure in my dream. No, it couldn't be. I was just… hallucinating. Yeah, that was it.

Sarah was talking to Tori, and Rachel was discussing the rest of the travel plans with Percy and Annabeth. I went over and sat behind the driver's seat. Rutherford hadn't talked much the entire way, so I tried to get a little conversation going. Here's how it went:

"So how far from New York are we?" I asked.

"Shhh! I need to focus on driving, and not a little girl's questions," he responded angrily.

"Well then! Someone's grumpy."

"Yes, I am. Now quiet down if you want to get to New York without tape over your mouth."

So I just sat back and tried to sleep. But of course that brought on more dreams.

_ Our swords clanged and clattered against each other. I was fighting the blue figure, and he was strong. He kept deflecting my attacks, and I already had several wounds from his jabs. He tried another strike, but I managed to parry it away and knock him over. With my sword pointed at his throat and fierce anger in my eyes. I thought I looked terrifying. But my opponent just laughed at me and shoved the sword point away. _

_ "You can't kill me," he said. "You don't have the guts. You won't be able to when the time comes. So why fool yourself?" And with an evil laugh, he faded away, and I was no closer to figuring out who the betrayer was. _

I jumped up and almost smacked Percy in the jaw.

"Nightmare?" he asked.

"Nightmare, and it's the second one in a row," I moaned as I got up and stretched. "So what's up?"

"Well, we're halfway through Pennsylvania, and well, the bus broke down." Percy said.

My eyes widened when he said "broke down." I noticed the bus door was open, and everyone else was outside surrounding Rutherford. I walked out and asked Rachel what was going on.

We had broken down on the side of the road next to a huge forest that gave me the creeps. Obviously Rachel thought so too, because her voice was shaking. "Our tire went flat and-" she started saying before she noticed my tired face. "Did you have a nightmare?" she asked quietly.

"Yes I did. So the tire went out. I guess that means we have to travel on foot the rest of the way. EVERYONE PACK-"

Just then I heard a long growl coming from the woods and Percy snarled, "It's the minotaur. I'd know that growl anywhere." He uncapped Riptide and it grew to its full two feet of power.

As I heard the pounding footsteps come closer and closer, I sighed. "OK, everyone, arm yourselves. We got ourselves a monster that needs beating." I drew out Admeta and spun it around. "Let's fight."

Out of the woods burst the Minotaur. He was fifteen feet tall wearing his Hanes underwear. He looked disgusting with his bloodshot eyes and his snotty nose, wanting to eat the demigods. I looked at my fellow fighters, and I charged him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The Minotaur wasn't really a challenge, not going to lie. Besides, with Percy on our side, who has beaten the Minotaur two times, we had a pretty good chance. I charged him with Admeta spinning on my fingertips, as quick as lightning, but Rachel actually got the first hit with an arrow to his leg. I jumped and sliced him in the stomach, leaving a gash in the lower abdomen. It was pretty gross looking, but you know, whatever you have to do to kill it, right? Michael stabbed it with his spear, and Sarah sliced with her dagger into his leg. Everyone laid a mark on this Minotaur, and that's what it took to kill it.

While I watched him disappear into fine gold dust, I thought about the flat tire. It was a weird time to think about it too. I actually thought about what was going to happen because of the flat tire. We were going to have to travel to New York on foot. That meant all thirty-five of us traveling about two hundred miles to Camp Half-Blood. Can you talk about an impossibility factor?

"Well, thank goodness that's over," Sarah said, her voice quavering with excitement and fear. "That was the most scared I've ever been in my life."

"You got that right," Rachel replied. "Good thing I'm an archer, because I would have hated to get too close to that monster!"

"How do you think I feel?" I asked. "I had to be up close and personal with that creature's beady bloodshot eyes. That is not pleasant." I turned to Michael. "You're lucky because you have a spear because that gives you some distance."

Michael scoffed. "I was _plenty _close to that thing, thank you very much. Just a spear has a long reach doesn't mean I wasn't that close. Besides I don't think you were the closest!" he said to me.

"That's right! I was! I have a _dagger_! A dagger is shorter than any sword!" Sarah laughed.

"Ok, well, we have to get going. So let's pack up and we can talk about it on the _walk _to Manhattan. ONE CHEER TO VICTORY!" I yelled.

"VICTORY!" everyone cheered. And then we were on our way to Camp Half-Blood.

I walked along with Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel, all four of us walking behind Rutherford, who was in the lead, taking us to victory. I couldn't wait to eat a real meal, or take a shower, which all of us hadn't done for about a week, by the way.

"My legs hurt, my arms hurt, my feet hurt, my hands hurt, my head hurts, even my hair hurts," I grumbled. I'm not really patient, or calm in times of panic, or enthusiastic about long walks to Manhattan.

"I'm guessing that's what everyone feels like. So stop whining," Rutherford muttered. He started talking a little louder over the voices of the teens. "If I hear any one of you whining again, I will tape all of your mouths shut!"

"Wow, he really isn't nice," Percy said with a weird tone in his voice.

"Trust me, we know." I growled.

Rachel sighed. "He had an attitude as our Bible substitute, and he has an attitude as our satyr."

I still grumbled the rest of the way across Pennsylvania.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Eight chapter milestone! Couldn't wait for Chapter Ten! :D Thank you all for reading, favoriting, reviewing, criticizing, and following! Luv you all!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

We had finally made it to New York. There was no stopping us, unless a Fury was going to fly out of nowhere, but of course with my luck that would probably happen.

When I saw the sign that said "Welcome to New York," I collapsed on the ground. We had been walking for three hours to finish crossing the border, and we were _so _close to getting to Camp Half-Blood.

Percy laughed at my dramatic feelings. I blushed when I realized he saw me and I felt instantly embarrassed. I was supposed to be a leader. A leader does not collapse on the ground. A leader stands up and fights through the end. I felt embarrassed and sickly, so I basically threw myself up onto my feet.

"We have to get to Long Island. That's a little ways away, and we might have to detour and go through New Jersey. So we still have a little walking to do," Percy said quietly. "Unless we had a pegasus for every person in here I don't think we could travel to New Jersey right now."

I sighed. "I'm going to Iris message Chiron, and Annabeth, Percy come with me. I might need some help trying to convince him to borrow a few of those winged horses."

Percy, Annabeth, and I walked over to a fountain that was nearby, and Annabeth handed me a golden drachma. I stared at it like it was a bomb. "Oh, uh, yeah, sorry about that," I muttered. "UH, Iris goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." I flicked the coin into a rainbow apparition and said, "Chiron, Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York."

An image shimmered in the rainbow until I was face to face with Chiron the centaur. Percy stepped in front of me with Riptide spinning in his fingers.

"Percy, who is that girl with you? Is that the girl you were telling me about, um, Carly?" the centaur asked with a concerned expression on his face. I just sighed, my expression grim.

"Chiron, My name is Carly Torres, and I am here to ask you to provide us some transportation to camp Half-Blood. I have thirty-seven half-bloods here, including myself, and one satyr that need to get to your camp. IF you have the pegasi that we need, I would like to use those to get these half-bloods home."

Chiron rubbed his beard and he looked up at Percy and Annabeth, then back at me. "How old are you, Carly?" he asked kindly.

"Twelve, sir." I responded.

"Percy, Annabeth, do you trust her?"

"Chiron, Carly has proven herself worthy of trust, she has taught her group so that all of the demigods can wield spear, sword, or bow and arrow. I promise you, every single one of these demigods deserve your trust." Percy declared.

"She is a strong, powerful leader to lead all of these half-bloods here. She has wisdom, and I believe that she deserves not only your trust, but the gods' trust as well," Annabeth agreed.

As soon as he said that I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. 'Every single one of these demigods' he said. Was that true? I thought back to my dreams, the ominous voice that echoed in my head every night and day. It sounded so familiar, like… like… and then it hit me.

"It _is _Michael," I whispered so quietly that my lips moved and nothing came out.

"What was that, Carly?" Percy asked.

"Chiron, do you have anything to get these demigods out of here?" I asked desperately.

Chiron's horse half skittered across the pavilion, and all of a sudden another demigod came up behind him, I think it was one of the Stoll brothers. The Stoll brother whispered in his ear, and Chiron's face paled. "Percy, I will send all the pegasi I can, and I will try to get you all out of there. Goodbye, Percy and Annabeth, I miss you both," the camp counselor said before he cut the signal.

Later, we heard the wing beat of the pegasi coming closer and closer, until we could see the outlines clearly in the sky. Blackjack was leading in front, followed by Porkpie and about twenty other pegasi. I heard Blackjack whinny to Percy, and Percy looked at me.

"Yes, Blackjack, I know, but we have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Please just do this for me. Come on, you'll only need to take me for a ride, come on dude, help me please!"

Blackjack snorted and shook his mane, and then nodded his head in consent. He whinnied and snorted at a pretty gray pegasus in the corner. She trotted over to me and shook her silver mane, and I patted her head.

Percy came over and said that her name was Lily Anne. I stroked Lily Anne on the back and gave her an apple slice that I had packed for the trip. It looked like it was time to fly.

I hopped on Lily Anne's back, and I rode in front of Rachel, Tori, and an eighth grader named Brandon. I noticed Rachel's crimson pegasus named Ruby whinny and shake her mane. Brandon's dark gray pegasus was named Spearhead. I looked at the group of twenty mounted demigods before me. The ones waiting with Annabeth for the next time around were mostly high school students.

I trotted over to Percy, who was mounted on Blackjack. He turned to the crowd behind me and yelled, "Demigods, to the skies!"

The mounted demigods rose unsteadily in the sky, and we flew to Long Island as a group.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

We flew higher and higher until the cars looked like mini versions of themselves. I looked down at the breathtaking view, but I barely noticed the amazing view from here.

"Man, I wish I had my own pegasus. I could get used to this view all day," Rachel says. "Don't you guys agree?"

I couldn't hear her. I was too busy trying to figure out my dreams. My mind was racing, and my eyes were squinted with concentration. What if Michael was the figure from my dreams? The thought terrified me. Michael didn't seem bad. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe the dream didn't mean anything.

"Carly?" Percy asked. "You okay? You seem distracted. You almost fell off your pegasus." Rachel was looking at me with concern and some of the eighth graders below me were looking up with fear that I was going to drop on top of them.

I sighed quietly, trying to hide my confusion behind a happy smile. "Yeah, just can't believe the view."

Sarah and Percy were still worried, but I brushed aside their concerns and brought their attention away from me by saying with a smirk, "Want to have a pegasi race?"

I watched as the reaction to my question circulated around the demigods. Some were excited, some were terrified, and some were indifferent. I laughed at some of the terrified expressions, because they just looked so hilarious.

Hannah, Rachel's sister, looked more excited than anything. She went around trying to convince everyone that it was a great idea, and her sister was as excited as her pegasus, Ruby.

"That's a great idea! Let's do it!" Michael exclaimed as he rode off quickly on his brown pegasi Torrent to the designated starting point, which was about twenty meters ahead.

All of the competitors were aware of the rules. If you started before the go you were disqualified, the end point was at Camp Half-Blood, and no pushing or shoving off course. I leaned over on Lily Anne, and when Sarah yelled the go, I burst off as quick as I could, trying to keep ahead of the competition. I took a left towards the camp, thinking I was pulling ahead, but then behind me I saw Michael and Rachel's pegasi come up behind me. I started to whisper in Lilly Anne's ear, "Come on girl, push it, we can make it." And then, I saw the camp.

At first it looked like a normal seaboard camp, with canoes and cabins. But then as you got closer, you saw the crazy side of it with the lava rock wall, the nymphs and satyrs running around, the cabins with the perks of their gods and goddesses, and the monsters romping through the forest. The whole view of everything that was contained inside the camp was stunning.

I aimed downward towards the camp, feeling the air ruffle my brown frizzy hair. I was like a comet breaking the atmosphere, not afraid of hitting the ground too hard. I saw the campers gather in the mess hall below, pointing to the sky, watching me fly towards them. I saw the ground get closer and closer faster and faster, until my pegasus spread her wings and landed on the ground as gentle as a feather. Michael and Rachel landed right after me, but I didn't notice. I was the victor.

All of the demigods eventually landed on the mess hall, including the group that Annabeth led, and by then, it was around six o'clock, which meant an hour till dinner.

"I don't know about all of y'all, but I am _starving. _Where is some food?!" I went around moaning.

All of the others felt the same way. You could tell by the cranky faces, the bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep, and the flushed faces. Percy laughed at all of our faces, because apparently when you're starving and tired you look absolutely hilarious.

"Percy, where's Chiron? We might want to talk to him now that we're here," Rachel said quietly.

"That's right," Percy said quickly. "Ok, um, Connor, Travis, why don't you take these three," gesturing to me, Michael, and Rachel, "to the Big House to meet Chiron and Mr. D."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Connor and Travis Stoll, twin brothers, sons of Hermes, took us to the Big House. Connor and Travis looked elfish, with pointy ears and prankish smiles that looked like they could steal anything and you wouldn't even realize it until it was too late.

They walked us inside, where we saw Chiron and Mr. D playing pinochle with Grover and one more terrified looking satyr. "Hello Carly, Rachel, Michael," Chiron said with a smile. Chiron had a scruffy brown beard and was wearing a comfy sweater. He was sitting in his magical wheelchair with his fake legs sticking out of a blanket.

"Oh boy, more demons to fill this wretched camp," Mr. D said with an irritated voice as he drank his Diet Coke and stared at his cards, maybe because he hated demigods, or maybe because he was losing to Chiron. Mr. D was the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine, and he was sentenced to fifty years of being a camp counselor at Camp Half-Blood. He was wearing a leopard print shirt with short zebra shorts, and his face was puffy and bloodshot like he had been partying all night.

I bowed my head to Chiron and Mr. D, trying to keep my irritation hidden from the god. After all I didn't want to be turned into a dolphin like those poor sailors. "Hello Chiron and Dionysus. We have arrived successfully, but no demigod has been claimed yet. Where shall these demigods go to sleep after our tiring journey?"

Chiron scratched his beard and muttered, "Well, I'll call a meeting and a pair of demigods will be paired with an experienced camper and they will be taken on a tour. They will be told about the mythology, the cabins, the activities, and the quests. Connor, Travis, go get Percy and Annabeth and tell them that they need to get some senior campers and match them up to two demigods each." Connor and Travis nodded and ran off as quick as their feet could take them.

Mr. D barely glanced at me, because he was too busy trying to win. "What's your name girl?" he asked me. "Charlie?"

"No, sir, Carly," I replied. He was pulling the "Peter Johnson" and the "Annie Bell" thing.

Chiron checked a clock on the wall and noticed that it was almost 6:30. "Ok, Carly, Rachel, Michael, it's time for dinner. Let's see who's going to get claimed."

We walked along next to Chiron in his horse form, seeing the cabins and the activities as we passed. All of the demigods we had brought had changed into the basic orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, and I have to admit, I was excited to start living here. But thinking about it made me depressed. I have spent two weeks away from my family, my school, and my church. And I was probably not going to see my parents ever again. My eyes started to water, and I wiped my eyes quickly before anyone could see.

I was seriously bummed out, but then I saw the mess hall and the campfire. The mess hall was Greek based, with classic Doric style columns and marble floors. The harpies ran around serving anything you wanted: pizza, pastries, meatloaf, brisket, pie, cake. And the goblets were enchanted so that they filled up with any drink you wanted, and free unlimited refills. I really wanted to dig in, but then everyone walked to the center brazier and put in a portion of their meal. I realized that they were making an offering to the gods. I immediately felt sick. It just felt wrong.

Rachel looked at me and I could tell that she was thinking the same thing, and so was Michael, and so was Kenlee, and so was Tori, and so was Brandon, and so was Fletcher, and so was Hannah. We were all thinking the same thing. So I set the example and bent to the brazier and put in the juiciest piece of brisket. Then I sat down and started eating.

Every one of the other demigods from school followed my example. They all prayed to God and then they made an offering to the Greek gods. When I scarfed down my plate, and everyone else did too, we walked to the campfire.

The campfire was beautiful and kind of scary at times. Since the flames reflected the mood of the campers, when all of the demigods from school walked in, the flames were dark blue to represent the somberness. But when the other campers gathered around the campfire and started laughing and talking, the flames rose to ten feet and they were light orange. I started laughing with some of the other campers from the Hephaestus cabin, but then Chiron pounded his hoof to signal that it was time for the sing-along.

We sang songs that I didn't know the words to, so of course I didn't remember the titles. I felt kind of weird mouthing and acting like I was singing, but then I saw it. Across the campfire, I saw a strange glow that was lighting up the other side of the amphitheater. It was floating above Michael's head, a glowing circle with a sign in it. Everyone stopped and stared at the sign, and I could barely make out the sign in the middle, the sign of a trident.

Then I saw another light glowing above Rachel's head. It was bright and it almost blinded me because well, it was basically a miniature sun, shining brightly on top of her head. It made everyone squint and glare, and some of the faces made me giggle

But then it happened to me. I barely glanced up to see a bright flash of lightning make the air smell like ozone. It made my hairs stand up on end, but I was still in such shock that I barely even noticed. The sign was pretty obvious. I mean I knew enough about Greek mythology to recognize it.

Chiron had a solemn expression on his face. He looked kind of sad and depressed as he kneeled to the ground and recited quietly, "Hail Michael Boatright, son of Posiedon, king of the seas and sender of hurricanes. Hail Rachel Averitt, daughter of Apollo, the god of the sun, the bringer of light. And hail Carly Torres, daughter of Zeus, god of the sky, king of the gods."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay so I haven't been uploading because of personal issues and... things... so I hope you enjoy the eleventh chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

As everyone else kneeled before us three, I had a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach. He sounded like he was speaking my eulogy at my funeral with his somber voice. I looked at my friends, us three who were claimed, and I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. And Michael's expression as he found out he was the son of one of the Big Three was almost scary, when he found out how much power he had.

I watched the people around stand, and the flames in the campfire burned brown. Percy's expression basically looked like he got hit in the face with a frying pan. Annabeth's was calculating, trying to figure me out. I was honestly terrified by her stare.

Then Sarah got claimed, daughter of Aphrodite. Then Tori became a daughter of Athena, and Kenlee, another daughter of Aphrodite. But another huge shocker was when Hannah Averitt was found out to be a daughter of Poseidon. That meant three new children of the Big Three.

After all of the claiming even some sons of Dionysus were found out, which was honestly kind of awkward. His face turned a deep red, and he refused to speak when he claimed them. It was kind of funny to see since he had such an attitude.

I couldn't believe I had to sleep in the Zeus cabin. There were no bunks, no blankets, not even a pillow. I tried to convince Chiron to let me sleep in the Big House, but he refused, and that made me even more irritated.

I opened the huge swinging doors with a small cot and a blanket stuffed in my hands, and my breath was taken away. The cabin had a towering ceiling, strong pillars, and a huge statue of Zeus right smack dab in the middle. The statue was full color, and almost scary, and I couldn't believe that I was the daughter of this king.

"Hello… Dad," I said tiredly. "Thanks for putting me through all this stuff." And after I said that, I swear I heard a sharp crackle of lightning and a low rumble of thunder. I had made him a tiny bit angry. "Well, it's true." I retorted to the sounds.

I walked around the statue, and I noticed a tiny little alcove right outside the view of the statue's glaring eyes. I barely touched it though, I was too busy setting up my cot right next to it. I didn't want those eyes haunting me. I actually wanted to sleep that night.

I tried to set up my cot behind the statue, and I thought once my eyes closed I would finally fall asleep. Unfortunately, I did.

_ I kept fighting. Admeta clanged against the opponent's spear, which spun and jabbed faster than I could deflect. My opponent unarmed me, my sword skipping over the floor out of my reach. He knocked me down. The dark blue hooded figure stood over me with his spear positioned over my face, the point just barely touching my forehead. _

_ "You'll never win," I snarled. "My friends are loyal, they'll beat you." _

_ "Loyalty means nothing in this battle, girl. It means betrayal. You'll find out soon enough. You're closest friends are the ones who destroy you," my opponent laughed. The spear point dug into my forehead, leaving a path of blood down the side of my head. The hooded figure let out an evil chuckle, lifted up the spear, and drove it towards my head._

I woke up sweaty and panting, my hair wild and frizzy, my eyes wide and bloodshot. I hated nightmares, or prophetic dreams. Whatever my toss and turn filled nights brought me these last few weeks.

I got up out of my extremely uncomfortable cot and stretched. It was still dark in the cabin, but the early dawn light could be seen beneath the door. I looked down at my bedraggled t-shirt and jeans. Oh, well. They would do.

When the door swung open I was nearly blinded. It was about ten o'clock. I had missed breakfast. "Dang it," I murmured as my stomach growled loudly.

"Carly! Over here, we saved you some food!" I heard Rachel holler. She and Michael were already up and actually wide awake. I felt lazy.

I walked over, extremely embarrassed. "Thanks guys, you didn't have to."

"Of course we did. You basically got thirty-five demigods from Oklahoma all the way to New York, while keeping every single one of them _alive_. You definitely deserve some breakfast," Rachel said enthusiastically. "Besides, after breakfast, you need to try the lava rock wall. And Lily Anne was definitely looking for you. Michael confirmed."

"Yep," Michael said with a smile. "Apparently being a son of Poseidon, you can talk to horses, pegasi, hippocampi, those kinds of animals. By the way, pegasi love being scratched right between the wings."

We all laughed and giggled. But I stopped laughing when I remembered my dreams. My best friends could betray me. Suddenly I didn't feel like eating. Or laughing.

But after the yummy breakfast, I felt like I could climb the lava wall about fifty times. "Ok, now I feel like climbing the rock wall. And sword fighting. And pegasi flying. And… all that stuff!" I yelled, trying to clear my mind.

And for the rest of the day, I actually could enjoy being a demigod.

* * *

I walked to dinner completely tired. I had climbed the rock wall, rode Lilly Anne, went canoeing, dueled in the sword fighting arena, and even played basketball.

Tori ran up to me, her face filled with delight. "Carly, the Athena cabin is awesome! Everyone is so nice, and Annabeth is an awesome senior camper! It's so much fun!"

Then Kenlee and Sarah walked over, with Rachel coming up right behind.

"Hey Carly! The Aphrodite cabin is amazing! I didn't that guys could be so… well… _clean_!" Sarah said loudly.

"Yeah, and everyone is so nice!" Kenlee agreed.

"Well the Aphrodite cabin is not as awesome as the Apollo cabin! So many different types of bows and we can play instruments together and it sounds amazing!" Rachel exclaimed.

"That's great, guys!" I said, glad that they were having a great time. But I was kind of jealous, because I got stuck in the Zeus cabin, where my only buddy was a giant statue of my dad.

Another lonely time: dinner time. I had to sit all alone at the Zeus table, and everyone else got to sit with their cabin buddies. But then a stranger came over to my table and sat down.

It was a frizzy red-headed girl with green eyes, a purple cloak, colored on jeans, and a plain white t-shirt. By her look, a name came to mind. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. "Hello," she said. "I saw you were looking a little lonely, and when you're the Oracle, you can sit anywhere you want." She smiled a bright smile, and I immediately returned it.

"I'm Carly, daughter of Zeus. And you're Rachel right?" I asked.

"That's me," she replied.

"Well, I think you're awesome. I can recite your last prophecy. But I don't think that would be a good thing to say out loud right?"

"Right. But who knows, maybe I'll be saying a prophecy for you sometime soon," she said with a little chuckle.

I laughed a little, but I realized the truth behind the words. "So do you get to do all the fun stuff like riding pegasi and climbing the rock wall?"

"Sometimes, but usually I'm too tired or busy in school," she replied with a sad sigh. "I hate my school, but you do what you got to do."

"Like escaping from a monster-infested school and traveling halfway across the country," I murmured, "saving thirty-five demigods from certain doom. Do what you got to go."

I finished my dinner and gave my plate to the cleaning harpies, and we had another campfire sing-along. Rachel was sitting right next to me, and I laughed when I saw her face when she realized we were singing. I guess she didn't like singing. I saw Rachel and Michael and I called them over to sit next to us. "Rachel, Michael, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Camp Half-Blood."

They all shook hands, but then Rachel took a good look at all three of us, and then the weird stuff happened.

The Oracle's spirit took over her, causing her to shake and twitch. Then her eyes turned bright neon green, and a dark green smoke swirled all around her. Three campers brought over a stool and sat her on it, and then she spoke:

"_You three will meet one, and you will combine. _

_Then the four, you will find. _

_You will fight and defend, and take back what's yours. _

_But you have to choose the right open door. _

_The betrayal will show, and after fights you will flee. _

_Then through one loss, you will again become three." _

Then the Oracle's spirit left her, and all three of us were left wondering what in the world she meant.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

I felt a sickness in the pit of my stomach. One line stuck with me for the rest of the sing along, and it followed me to my cabin and it stayed with me through my nightmares, causing me to toss and turn with fear. _The betrayal will show, and after fights you will flee. _The betrayal. I knew what it meant. It meant the figure that had haunted my dreams. It meant Michael.

I couldn't sleep. Not with this knowledge weighing me down. I had to travel to the one place in this camp where I could be alone. I had to go the beach. I grabbed my blanket off of the cot and grabbed a Dr. Pepper I stole from the kitchen, and I tiptoed out of my cabin and to the beach.

It was so quiet here. The waves crashing on the beach. The moon shining on the water. It made me feel almost homesick for my home in Oklahoma. The only smile I managed was when I thought of _The Sea of Monsters_, when Percy did the exact same thing I was doing now. When Hermes had come up to him and gave him the thermos and the gummies.

I wasn't expecting a god, but I needed a little guidance. I needed to know what to do with this prophecy. I obviously knew my friends and I were going on a quest, but to where?

I heard the hoof beats approaching, but I thought nothing on it until Chiron was right behind me, carrying a satchel in one hand and a quiver on his back.

"You should be in your cabin," he said, but that was all.

I was expecting a little bit more. Maybe a firm lecture or an escort back to my cabin, or even dish duty for a week. But he just looked at me, almost sadly.

"I couldn't sleep" was all I said before I turned back to the silent ocean. I realized the waves weren't lapping against the sand anymore, it was almost picturesque. But I felt a soft breeze float by, and I realized this was the guidance I needed. Chiron was perfect. He was immortal, so he must know what I could do.

"Chiron?" I asked turning to him. "What should I do about this prophecy?"

"My dear child, I cannot tell you what you must do. That you must figure out for yourself," he responded, and I felt a flash of anger.

"Oh, come on! The prophecy didn't even give a clue! It just said stuff about fights and betrayal. I don't know where to go!" I argued. "Do we go fight an unknown monster in San Francisco? Do we go to Mount Olympus and get a quest from my father? Do we go to Mingo and kill all the monsters there?" And then the realization hit me. "We have to go to Mingo and kill all the monsters there!"

Chiron smiled. "See child, you don't need my help. Now go get your friends. Wake them up and get them ready. You have a long journey to travel to on foot. Or maybe if Nico is still here, he can shadow travel you to Oklahoma."

I smiled back to him and hugged him, but it's kind of hard to hug a horse. And then I snuck into the Apollo cabin.

"Rachel? Rachel?" I whispered softly. But I saw her near the back of the cabin, tossing and turning in her sleep.

I padded over to her bedside, and I tapped her shoulder. She jumped up with a fright, her bow clutched in one hand, an arrow in the other. She turned wildly and saw my face in the night, but only when I explained to her our quest did she hop out of her bed with a calm expression on her face.

"Ok, let's go," she whispered. She was already dressed in the Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans. And then we ran to the Poseidon cabin.

Once we were inside, I saw Michael on a top bunk with an arm dangling off of the bed. He was right above Percy, and I didn't want to wake Percy up, or Hannah, who was across the room. So I did the subtle thing. I woke up all three.

"Michael! Michael, wake up!" I whispered loudly. A little too loudly.

Michael heard me. In fact when he heard me, he woke up in fear and fell off the top bunk and fell on his face on the ground, thus waking up Percy and Hannah.

"Thanks, Carly, for the major headache," he said, sounding very irritated. Percy and Hannah were laughing a little.

"Look Michael, we have to go. It's time for our quest," I murmured to him, only kind of sorry that he fell. "We have to leave tonight."

Luckily, we were already prepared. There was no need to change, because we didn't really pack other clothes. We already had our weapons, me with Admeta, Michael with his spear, and Rachel with her bow and arrows. Plus our backpacks were already packed with the necessities, like nectar and ambrosia, sleeping bags, water, food, and bandages. All we had to do was leave without anyone else knowing.

Of course with my luck, that didn't happen. We were at the stables, saddling up our pegasi Lily Anne, Ruby, and Torrent. Whenever we were almost done preparing our pegasi for flight, we heard footsteps behind us. It was Sarah. She had woken when she heard us passing by her cabin on the way to the Poseidon cabin.

"Where are you guys going?" she asked.

"We're going on our quest." I replied, in an almost annoyed voice.

"Quest? Why a quest?" she asked, astonished.

"We have the prophecy. We have to fulfill it. We have to go now, to Oklahoma, to fight monsters. We'll be back, Sarah. I promise," I murmured, but as soon as I said it I thought back to the prophecy line: _Then through one loss, you will again become three. _Someone wasn't coming back.

She looked heartbroken, as if she was thinking the same thing. Rachel and I hugged her, Michael gave an awkward wave, and then we took off, flying to Oklahoma.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"Two hours, and we haven't even gotten a quarter of the way," I murmured as we sat around the fire Michael had set up, with the sleeping bags set around it. I threw a stick into the fire out of anger and impatience, and a crackle of lightning sparked above.

"Chill out, Sparky. We'll just spend the night here so we can be up and moving again," he said, almost laughing.

"Well, just laugh it up. I'm tired and cranky and I'm going to bed," I snapped at him.

"Yeah, I am too, Michael. That means you can take first watch," Rachel told him firmly. "Wake us up if anything happens."

I curled up into my sleeping bag, with the fire warming my back and the woods facing me. I felt a little nervous about letting Michael taking the watch, but I needed sleep, and I'm sure my friends wouldn't enjoy me yelling at them all night. I felt my eyelids get heavy, and before I knew it I was asleep.

I didn't have any nightmares. That kind of worried me considering I always had nightmares. I got up and stretched facing the fire, about to tell Michael that he could sleep, when I realized Michael wasn't there.

I went over to his sleeping bag and lightly touched it. It was cold, so he probably hadn't even got in it all night. I tiptoed around the campfire, trying not to wake Rachel, who was busy fighting off some night terrors, when I heard whispering in the forest. It wasn't far away, so it was loud enough I could hear everything the whispers were saying.

"My patron, they are asleep. Send the Hydra. It will kill them quickly," a first voice said, and shivers ran up my spine. It was Michael's voice.

"No! It is not the right time. We will send them later, when they are weaker. First, you must gain their trust. The daughter of Zeus, she is… inquisitive. And Apollo's child will figure it out soon enough. You must lead them off, not let them suspect you," replied a second voice. It was gravelly, but vaguely feminine. Like a woman who swallowed rock and dirt and let it sit for a couple days before trying to speak.

"But if we kill them now, we won't have to worry about them later!" Michael argued angrily. It was loud enough that Rachel stirred in her sleep.

"Shush boy. If you wake them they will know everything!" the gravelly voice whispered. "Leave, and report back to me when they are broken. A noise that sounded like a quiet vacuum occurred, and then I heard approaching footsteps. I crawled quickly back to my sleeping bag and got into it silently, acting like I was asleep.

My eyes went to slits, and I managed to see Michael walk over to our packs and slip something into his, a small piece of paper that looked like all it could hold was a phone number. I felt the corner of my eyes tear up. How Michael could have just instantly suggested killing us. His voice sounded so nonchalant, like it was as simple as snapping his fingers.

_Not now_, I scolded myself. _Now you plan your escape. You have to tell Rachel. You have to find a way to stop him. _

After I thought this I realized why I didn't have nightmares. The nightmare was reality.

I woke up at early dawn, and I saw Michael sleeping and Rachel taking watch. I walked over to Rachel and said "morning."

She nodded slowly, looking into the depths of the flames that were still alive and were nowhere near dying out. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she was almost motionless.

"You OK? You seem kind of down," I asked her. "Is it about your nightmares?"

She gave a slow nod, and I didn't bother her anymore.

I walked over to Michael and kicked him to wake him up. I didn't really try shaking him. I was too mad and irritated at him to care if I hurt him.

His eyes shot open and he gave me an angry look. "What was that for?" he said, frowning.

"I had a nightmare, I'm not in the mood to be gentle," I retorted. I felt like I was looking at Luke, like he had reborn into Michael and carried all of the evil with him.

"Well, you could've at least tried!" he yelled. He got up out of his sleeping bag. It didn't look like he had any nightmares. He was too well rested.

"Guys, calm down. We can't turn against each other," Rachel said calmly.

_Too late for that_, I thought.

"But, we can work together and get there quicker, if we leave now. We're all cranky and nervous and tired," she continued as she hopped on Ruby. "Let's go."

We packed up camp as quick as we could and erased all the evidence of our stay. Then we hopped on the pegasi and flew towards Oklahoma, with a good seventy-five percent to go.

"Carly?" I heard Rachel say as she flew behind me.

"Yeah?" I asked gruffly.

"I know it's not your nightmares that have you irritated. I've seen your nightmare-bothered-me-all-night face. That is your I'm-going-to-kill-someone face," she said with a sad smile.

I glanced at her, almost smiling. Almost. "Listen, Rachel, I'll tell you later, but now… now is not the time. Please just take my word for it."

"Carly, just-"

"Rachel, stop."

"Carly-"

"Rachel!"

She scowled. "Fine, let this keep bothering you until you can't take it. I just wanted to help," she said. I took it that she was a bit irritated with me.

I closed my eyes and let the wind blow in my hair. _If only you knew, Rachel. If only you knew._


End file.
